Hearing the soft strains of unfamiliar songs coming from down the street, Mal sashayed through the squalor of a busy alley, going out of her way to overturn both people and things while shaking a half-filled can of purple spray paint. Grinning mischievously, she sprayed an M on every doorway between her home and Ursula's Bar and Grill before slowing her step.

The sound was coming from inside.

"Dang!" she smiled slyly, spraying the last of the paint on one of Harry's wharf rats when he emerged through the saloon-style doors to challenge her presence, "You look good in purple!"

"Hey shrimpy," she continued, calling loudly to garner attention as she pushed past the hapless pirate, entering the Isle's most popular restaurant to a chorus of boos, "Did Harry finally ditch you for a better gig or is he just out being your errand boy again? Oh, and while I'm at it, your taste in music stinks just like your hair!"

Uma slowly rose from behind the counter, giving Mal a blistering look and raising both hands for silence. "The music comes from Auradon, so deal with it! Just like the rest of us."

"It's Christmas!" Gil shouted, euphorically tossing a handful of old popcorn kernels into the air

Mal rolled her eyes then smiled condescending at Uma, "Oh, by the way, I also took some of your territory this morning."

"Why, you little—" the sea witch's daughter's face lit up with fury and she hurled a leftover hunk of hamburger at her rival, "You better be—"

Easily dodging the flying hunk of meat, Mal roared with diabolical laughter and flounced her way past the tables to plop down at the counter. Cupping her face in her hands, she fringed a demure look.

"Hm, I better be what?" she asked sweetly, her tone contradicting the green flecks in her eyes that issued a challenge.

"Ugh," Uma lowered her gaze, still unable to beat Maleficent's daughter in a staring contest; her face showed her humiliation, "What do you want?"

"I want what I want," Mal replied, smirking triumphantly before grabbing a tray of leftovers and plopping down at an empty table. She scowled at a piece of stale bread before tearing off a hunk and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Unbelievable," she muttered angrily, ignoring the threatening stares that came her way as the Christmas songs began to infiltrate her mind again. She wanted to cover her ears, but she couldn't.

It would be interpreted as weakness.

Brooding silently as she ate, she wondered how could she could've been attracted to their songs and speeches about forgiveness and redemption? After all, they themselves couldn't possibly believe in it!.

Then, suddenly, it was all too much and fury blazed up inside of her until her eyes burned green. Barely able to control her shaking body, Mal leaped to her feet and flung her tray to the floor before dashing out the door, deaf to Uma's rage.

"What a joke," she muttered as she stormed down the street, not slacking her pace until she angrily threw herself on her bed, "It's all such a big joke!"

**oo**

"Really," Mal qualified, as she finished the recollection, "messing with Uma was pretty much a regular thing for me back then and I hadn't given this incident any thought since it we left. But that was my first encounter with things like love and redemption so, needless to say, it's taken on new meaning for me."

"Back then," she added, "I figured that you guys were all talk and no action, but I'm really happy that I was wrong."